How to Price Your Art (in Just 6 Minutes)

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Learn how to price your art using a simple formula that works for any medium that you use. Use this simple pricing structure to price your drawings and paintings that are sold as commissions or through a gallery. No matter your skill level, you can use this information to help you determine how much to charge for your art.
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[juliapace]

Thanks for speaking on this topic. Another viable possibility is to charge by the square inch. A small 6 x 6 oil painting at .75 per square inch would cost the buyer $27.00 since it's 36 square inches. Shipping is extra. I've seen artists who have a good following charge $100 for a 6x6 oil painting. Charging by the inch allows for fairness for the client - if you took forever to paint a commission since you had little experience. It's also good for the artist who has a marketable image that they can paint in a flash and still charge plenty. What doesn't work well is if you have hours and hours in a colored pencil piece and it's still small. In many cases, I think it's best to make prints of your work and sell 6 x 6 prints for $10. Art will sit there forever and not sell if the price is off. Your selling venue is a critical factor, too.

[shashimicheletusken]

This is a very structured way to price artwork. I really appreciate it. I imagine that the starting hourly rate might seem high to some people. I would consider it "minimum wage" for an artist. If the artist is relying solely on their artwork for income, and if one considers all of the things that an employer pays for when paying employees, like health insurance, 401K, vacation, PTO, etc; $150/hour is a good and fair starting rate. It's very expensive to be self-employed in the US. Artist do not need to suffer financially or in any other way.

[missjdk]

I think something to consider is who your potential clients are and where you intend to sell your art. I live in a small town and the pricing in our gallery ranges from about $200 to $1, 000, because the people here are not going to pay any more than that. A gallery in a bigger city will attract a higher-end clientele, take a larger cut from the artist, do more to promote your work, and will likely sell at least 3 or 4 times what I could get in small town U.S.A. My recommendation is to visit the places you'd like to sell your art (galleries, art fairs, online shops, etc.) and check out the prices for work that is similar in style, medium, and skill (be honest with yourself) to what you have before you decide on your hourly rate and/or pricing structure, especially if you are new to selling. If you try to sell your work for $1, 700 next to a $700 painting that is similar to yours, it is not likely going to sell.

[cindysimons]

Thank you. This is the first tutorial on pricing that is easy to understand.

[BonLee-jhpk]

I often price my work by who's buying it. Like, for instance, if it is a Senior Citizen on a fixed income, I'm going to charge significantly less. As my joy comes mainly in the creation process, I'm pretty happy if I can cover the materials cost alone. I have to say that until I moved to Kentucky, my strategy always yielded enough to pay my rent, utilities, and groceries. Since we moved here, I've been able to barely sell one thing a year. There is just no market to speak of. Most of my sales are still out of my home state of Ohio.

[jimkuz]

I worked in graphic design for 40 years,
I was told, estimate your time & then add on 30%
for "unknowns", & you will probably be accurate

[kathleengarness]

It takes me a long time to do the research and detailed work for my pieces - $150 an hour is aspirational for me! :) But what I do do is, when preparing an estimate (for both cost and delivery time), build in time for in-person and/or zoom meetings, answering emails, and related paperwork. This is all billable time and can account for a lot of your work on the piece! Another thing I do is send the client a preliminary drawing for their approval (but I don't send mid-way pictures because it's almost impossible for clients to envision the final piece). For my most recent commission, I sent the preliminary drawing as a matter of course, and the client approved it, but then once I sent a photo of the finished piece, they asked for some major changes in element size. Fortunately I had built some time for this into the estimate, so it turned out okay, and the client and gift recipient loved the work, but it pushed back my delivery date by a few days. Fortunately there were no issues with shipping, so it got there in time for the celebration and gifting. Whew!

[arkansasgrizzly]

Great information, thanks! As a digital artist, I’m always unsure of how best to structure my materials pricing. My materials are an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil 2. Thanks again!

[helloz]

Thank you! This is very timely as I want to start a commission soon. You make this topic very clear and easy to understand.

[lorethajones]

Thanks you i needed this shot and to the point needed information.

[CallMeCJorDandy]

Thank you for the Teachings, Mr. Virtual Instructor ❤🖼️

[rdendelacruz]

My artist friends told me that you can price your art by square inch....like, 5 dollars per square inch. Its up to you how will you price each square inch

[farmerfox]

Perfect timing once again. Thank you. Great video.

[c.t.]

This was very helpful information and thanks so much! :) Clear, simple, and easy to follow. :)

[ILoveFountainPens]

I don’t know if I’ll ever be skilled enough to sell my art, however having this breakdown is very helpful and i sightful.

Thanks! 😊

[rainsong]

I’m very curious how many artists price themselves this way and then actually get commissioned. If you have clients willing to pay this much and you continue to find them year over year, that’s the video I want to see. How are you doing that in this economy?

[acexkeikai]

Most people think artists charge way too much for their artwork. I think this description of the pricing is fair both for the buyer and the artist and is why people who put their work up in a gallery ask for so much more money because you have to pay the middleman. Unless you know the person personally NEVER EVER lower your price, even if that person is buying several pieces. They might be buying it for themselves but many buy artwork for their work place and use the price you set in the begining to add it to they expenses for their taxes. Most people think also that they will save money if the frame isn't included and have it framed themselves. For smaller art pieces, it might be less of a hassle for you but on bigger pieces some people might not expect just how much they will need to pay to have a professional do the work for them.

[AzarroFragrance]

I go by what I would let it go for, it is my baby, and put a lot of love into it. And by how popular it is. I don't believe in prints. The owner receives one of a kind, the original.

[miners_treasures]

Cut up posterboard, Prisma pencil use, eraser use and my time is what i would bill for. I buy 8x10 frames and frame the picture myself. I most likely will sell local first to see if there is any interest.

Can you make a video of where to sell artwork online?

[kristene.]

Any advice for a kid artist entrepreneur who started selling at age 6? Prices are $5, $10 and $20. Mostly the $5 and $10 sell (added the smaller $5 later). Selling at local markets. There's multiple steps to prep and paint plus the both of our time, and that can vary greatly depending on how quickly deciding on what to paint. Worried to raise prices from $5 to maybe $8-10 but think it's needed for cost and time. Where would you start out with pricing for someone so young?